Freddie Gray verdict: Baltimore officer’s fate will soon be revealed

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

BALTIMORE, MD - MAY 23: Demonstrators chant, 'No justice, no peace' outside the Mitchell Courthouse-West after Baltimore Police Officer Edward Nero was found not guilty on all charges against him related to the arrest and death of Freddie Gray May 23, 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland. One of six police officers charged, Nero was found not guilty by Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams in a bench trial. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Freddie Gray verdict: Baltimore officer’s fate will soon be revealed

BALTIMORE, MD - MAY 23: Demonstrators chant, 'No justice, no peace' outside the Mitchell Courthouse-West after Baltimore Police Officer Edward Nero was found not guilty on all charges against him related to the arrest and death of Freddie Gray May 23, 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland. One of six police officers charged, Nero was found not guilty by Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams in a bench trial. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

A judge will determine the fate of Caesar Goodson on Thursday, the Baltimore officer who faces the most serious charges stemming from Freddie Gray’s death.

Gray, who was 25, suffered a devastating spinal injury and died in April 2015, about a week after he was arrested and placed into a prisoner van that Goodson was driving.

His death spurred protests that eventually turned violent, setting fire to Baltimore and thrusting the city into the national debate on police brutality.

Goodson faces the most serious charges of the six officers arrested in the case.

Judge Barry Williams will issue his verdict around 10 a.m. ET on Thursday.

The ‘rough ride’

Six officers were charged in Gray’s death, but Goodson, who opted for a bench trial, faces the most serious, including second-degree depraved heart murder.

Prosecutors allege that Gray was arrested on a weapons charge, Goodson took him on a “rough ride” in a prisoner van — a punitive measure police used against unruly subjects.

They say Goodson drove so radically that he blew through a stop sign and veered into another lane of traffic because of the speed he was traveling, which prosecutors said would have tossed Gray around in the van. This is the point in the ride that prosecutors think Gray sustained his fatal spinal injury.

The prosecution argues that Goodson failed on two accounts: failing to put a seat belt on Gray when he was in the back of the van and neglecting to provide Gray with proper medical assistance after Gray indicated that he wanted to go to the hospital.